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Boston Cops Go Undercover Online To Crack Down on Concerts

Posted by timothy on from the on-the-internet-dog dept.

Boston Police, according to an article at Slate, are engaging in a strange use of social media to fight crime. Or at least, to stop raucous music from disturbing the city. As the Slate writer says, "While police departments have been using social media to investigate for years, its use in such seemingly trivial crimes would be rather chilling, if these efforts didn’t seem so laughably inept."

5 of 229 comments (clear)

  1. Y undercover? by markdavis · · Score: 4, Informative

    >"loud rock shows can, in fact, be a nuisance to neighbors, as many of the people who put the shows on will admit. "

    Of course they are. In fact, to many people (myself included), such noise in a residential area is not a "trivial crime" at all. But why is it necessary to go undercover? Isn't it easier to wait for a noise complaint, then sent units over to wherever it is and start issuing tickets??

  2. Or Not. by jelwell · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you read the entire article, there's no proof that cops are going undercover. There's only proof that DIY show producers are paranoid. I'm more inclined to believe the latter.
    Joseph Elwell.

    1. Re:Or Not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      You're right, except for the part of the article where it says The cops told the residents of the house that they found out about the show through email, and they bragged about their phony Facebook accounts.

  3. Re:What a waste by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 4, Informative

    Try actually reading the post that you're replying to. You know, bits like:

    And this needs cops who could be patrolling street corners known for dope selling and muggings. or you know going to places where actual realtime noise complaints are made from.

  4. Re:What a waste by chrismcb · · Score: 3, Informative

    You do not have a right to party as loud and as long you may want.

    You DO have the right to party as long as you want. But yeah you can be loud, use illegal drugs, park illegally, serve minors... But how about we bust people AFTER they commit the crime, not before they MIGHT commit a crime.